


Lunch Box Friends

by WitchJanus_Rights



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Autistic Deceit | Janus Sanders, Bullying, Card Games, Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders Has ADHD, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Harassment, Language, Minor Injuries, Minor Violence, Movie Reference, Song Fic Kinda, Trans Male Anxiety | Virgil Sanders, Unsympathetic Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Unsympathetic Morality | Patton Sanders, high school shenanigans, mentions of abuse, tags will be changed
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-21
Updated: 2020-11-06
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:08:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27134348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WitchJanus_Rights/pseuds/WitchJanus_Rights
Summary: Janus Python is just trying to make sense of life so far and deal with high school. With his best friends Remus Duke and Virgil Webb by his side nothing can possibly go wrong. That is until Janus gets noticed by the wrong people, and things get a little too out of hand. Will the three friends be able to help each other and get through this mess? Read on for high school shenanigans, angst, comfort, drama, and lots of friendship fluffiness.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders & Deceit | Janus Sanders, Platonic all around - Relationship
Comments: 3
Kudos: 26





	1. “I want this to be a Sawww movie”

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah I suck at summaries. Anyway, I present to you my take on a high school AU, which I have NEVER done before. Based loosely on Melanie Martinez’s “LunchBox Friends” from the album K-12. Update will be at random and sadly I have no definitive schedule. Hope you all enjoy!

“Move out of the way, freak!” The taller kid shouted as he pushed Janus into a locker. Janus groaned as his shoulder slammed into the cold metal. Stupid Princey. Always bullying him and everyone else. He could hear a few freshman giggling and spotted some staring at him. In response he hissed at them and then bent down to pick up the books he had dropped. The bell rang loudly, making his head spin as he stood up. Crap he was gonna be late to class. Janus quickly ran down the hall and up the stairs. His ASL teacher was usually lenient on being late if it only happened once or so. Luckily this was only Janus’s second offense so he slid into his seat without any notice. He was sweaty and fidgety and shook up from the incident in the hallway. It wasn’t exactly anything new. Princey had had it out for him since middle school. Janus had made the mistake of taking choir in seventh grade as an elective. The entire class had been a popularity contest. And in no way was Janus near popular. Roman Prince, had practically run the class- being the teacher's pet and all. Janus had hated every moment of it. But his mother, who had always been a egotistical narcissist, had insisted he stay in the class. He had finally dropped it the next year. Thought that still didn’t save him from Romans wrath. Janus could never quite figure out why exactly Roman hated his guts. But then again, Janus had always been one of those people who really didn’t care what people thought.   
“Dee, are you paying attention?” The teacher asked. Janus looked up from his hands startled.   
“Yes, sir” he managed to say, keeping his voice perfectly steady. Many years of practice made him able to keep his voice emotionless and sarcastic, even under stress. He tried to keep up with the class as they went through the new vocabulary, but as always, he found he could not go as fast as everyone else. Partnering up for practice was especially difficult. He always felt like he was a few miles behind everyone else, and couldn’t speak when he had a question. He had really been kidding himself when he had said he’d be good at ASL. He felt so relieved when the bell rang, practically sprinting out of the room and into the hall. It was lunch time. The break he needed. He needed his Voice back. He wanted it back. And he knew there was only one way to get it back. Janus held tightly to his backpack straps as he shoved his way through the crowd in the hallway, and down the stairs. Starting to skip as he entered the front hall. If Ree wasn’t there he would kill him later. Almost tripling over his own feet as he went down the few steps to the cafeteria, he managed to get through the crowd of hungry teenagers in one piece. He could finally hear himself think as he threw his bag on the table and sat down at his usual spot. Humming a tune to himself as he waited for his best friend to arrive. Tapping his gloved fingers in the table, glancing around the room. At every table people were there. Laughing, talking, screaming, shouting, dancing. It was loud. Much louder than he liked. Sometimes he just liked to watch the people. Not that he knew any of them- or more accurately that they knew him. He could name off a few names from classes, but he doubted they could remember his. He spoke a total of fifteen words- If that- in most classes.   
“Hiya, DeeDee!” Remus shouted as he set his lunch tray down on the table. Janus looked up at him. Remus’s messy curly brown hair sticking every which way. There was a section in the middle of his hair he had dyed grey, because “it’s what smart people do.” But that was Remus for you. And Janus couldn’t think of another person he rather be with.   
“Hello, Remus,” Janus greeted. Remus sat down, and leaned across the table, his arms extending towards Janus.  
“What is it this time?” Janus asked.   
“You’re upset,” Remus pointed out, and then sat up and booted his nose. Janus grimaced. Bleh, physical contact. If it were anyone but Remus, he would go off on them.   
“You know how I feel about physical contact,” Janus muttered.   
Remus grinned, a wild look in his eyes.   
“You ain’t do anything about it,” he jeered.   
“You are correct.”  
“Exactly! Becauseee you divorceeee meeeee,” Remus sing sang, and started rocking back and forth.   
Janus sighed and leaned his elbows on the table.   
“Your proof?” He asked, feigning skepticism.   
“You want a hug?”   
“No,”   
“That's a lie,” Remus chirped, and jumped up from the table, ran around, and wrapped both arms around Janus. Remus was about a foot taller than Janus, meaning he was practically trying to lift Janus up. Janus stiffened In the embrace. He would never admit it, but it did make him feel better. Remus was the type of person who you would see once and never forget. He was loud, and always looking for trouble. He was hilarious, the only person who could make Janus really laugh. The only person who seemed to really care. Which was another thing, Remus was as soft as hell. He hid it well, better than Janus even, but it was true. Remus settled back down in his seat after finally letting go of Janus. Janus rolled his eyes.   
“You’re so soft.”  
“You’re even more soft! Boop!” He said, again poking Janus’s nose.   
“Feeling better, Jan Jan?”   
“Sure, why not.”  
“Awww, Ok! Do I still get to stab the person who hurt you?”   
Janus laughed, and said with a grin.   
“Not if I get to rid you of that awful brother of yours.”   
“Oohhhhh, sounds like a good deal!” Roman and Remus were half brothers, who happened to be born on the same day two years apart. Roman was unfortunately the older one, yet Remus was much taller than him. Janus had known Remus for as long as he chose to remember. About six years the two have known each other. And they   
As inseparable as could be. Practically brothers at this point.   
“Soooooo what movie we watching tonight?” Remus asked innocently.   
“Definitely no The Lorax again,” said Janus.   
“But you LOVE The Lorax,” Remus protested.   
“But it’s Halloween time, Remus,”   
“The Lorax can be scary! The Oncelors aunt is terrifying!” Remus took two of his fingers and used them to stretch out his lips.   
“I was thinking something more violent-“   
“Like Scream?”   
“Definitely, I’m in a stabby mood.”  
“Let’s make this a Saw movie!”   
“Sawww movie.”  
“Sawwwwww movie!” Remus giggled.   
“What the hell are you two going on about?” Virgil asked sitting down next to Janus.   
“Sawwwwwwwww movie!” Remus and Janus said loudly in unison, leaning towards the emo. Virgil backed away, still making direct eye contact with the two.   
“Righhhttttt, so it’s Saw again tonight?”   
“Nooooo! We’re watching Scream tonight!”   
“Then why are you two always-“   
“Hush, child,” Janus said in a monotone voice.   
“I have no clue why I hang out with you two,” Virgil muttered.   
“Awwww we divorce you too, Virge!”   
“I dirvorce you too, you trash goblin.”   
“Hehe! Oh! Jan Jan you promised you’d come dumpster diving with me tomorrow!”   
Virgil couldn’t help but laugh.   
“You’re joking, right?” He asked, stifling a smile with his hoodie.   
“Sadly not.”   
“Well good luck with that. I have no clue how you handle that thing-“ the raccoon crooked a thumb at Remus- “24/7.”   
Janus reached across the tabled and pulled Remus across.   
“Hi!”   
“Hi,” he said then looked at Virgil. “You kidding? He’s the easiest person in the world to deal with.”   
“Even without my medicine?” Remus asked, practically foaming at the mouth.   
“Yes,”   
“Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!” He began screeching.   
“You two scare me, you know that?”   
“You love us,”   
“Love is a social construct,” Virgil said darkly.   
“Divorce!” Cried Remus, still in a headlock by Janus.   
“Divorce indeed, Ree.”   
“Oh, did you guys hear about the fight earlier?” Virgil asked leaning forward.   
“No, do go on,” Janus said, with mild interest.   
“Princey got into a fist fight with some sophomore during fourth period. Gave the dude a black eye and sent him to the nurses-“   
“Oh that ain’t good,” Remus said.   
“Definitely not. Did he get suspended?”   
“Nope, they both just got sent home I think.”   
“Damn, they got off easy!”   
“Wonder what caused the fight, this time.”   
“I dunno, but anyway. Y'all wanna play some cards?”   
“As if that’s a question, honestly Virgil. Of course.” Janus dug through the pockets of his cargo pants pockets, and pulled out a deck of cards.   
“My turn to shuffle!” Remus said excitedly, grabbing the deck of cards.  
“Be careful, those are brand new,” Janus warned.   
“Don’t worry, Snakey, I know how sensitive you are about your cards.”   
Virgil smirked.  
“Just be careful with them, please.”   
“You can’t shuffle anyway Jan, and those gloves aren’t helping,” Virgil pointed at his yellow gloves. Janus glanced at his hands and then focused in Remus shuffling the card deck.   
“Why do you wear them anyway?”   
“Jan Jan has secrets no one but me will ever know!”   
“Well no duh, we all have secrets,” the emo stated.   
“Sure,” Janus said absentmindedly. He stared as Remus shuffled the cards quickly, taking care not to bend any.   
“Alright! What we playing?”   
“Bull Shit,” Virgil said eagerly.   
“Ooohhh, ok!” The cards began to be dealt.   
“Think you’re gonna with this time, Virge?” Asked Janus, smirking, as he shuffled his hand.   
“Pshhh, there’s no way you’ll win again.”   
“Sure. Who has the ace of spades?”   
“What do you mean? You’re right there!” Cackled Remus pointing at Janus.   
“Very funny, Ree, you gay trash bag.”   
“I take that as a compliment!”   
“Ladies, ladies, you’re both beautiful,” Virgil cut in, sarcastically, then placing down the card they were looking for.   
“Two ones,” said Janus.   
“Three twos!” Shouted Remus, slamming the cards down on the table.   
“One three,”   
“Two fours,”  
“BS!” Yelled Remus.   
Janus smirked as he turned over the two cards, to reveal they were in face, both fours.   
“IM WINNING!” Remus screeched demonically and grabbed the stack of cards in the middle.   
“That’s not how you-“   
“Let him be.”   
“One five!”   
“Two sixes.”   
“Crap, Janus! Stop winning!”   
“Five sevens!”   
“YOU CAN'T HAVE FIVE SEVENS!”  
“IM GAY, I DO WHAT I WANT!”


	2. Confrontation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Janus and Roman have a chat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m so sorry for being on hiatus so long. I hope you all enjoy this second chapter, and I promise the next one will be longer and the plot will start to pick up.

“Six o clock for movie night?” Janus asked Remus as they walked him from the bus stop.   
“Yeeeee! I’ll bring the oreos, and the energy drinks-“   
“I think you have enough energy already, Ree.”  
“You’re not my mom! Hehehehe, tonight’s gonna be wild!” Janus shook his head. Remus On energy drinks sounded- interesting. As if he wasn’t already full of energy and practically bouncing off of the walls.   
“Ooh! Maybe I’ll go as Jigsaw for Halloween!” Remus said, eyes alight with excitement.   
“You would make a very good Jigsaw.”   
“What are you going as Dee?” Remus asked leaning towards Janus.   
“I’m still deciding between Mr Hyde and-“   
“Go as the evil dorito!”   
“I went as Bill last year though,” Janus pointed out.   
“Wellllllllll go as him again,”   
“Hmmm, I think Hyde wins this one.”   
“Aww man! Dorito sold out for old creepy English man!”  
Janus adjusted his backpack and eyed Remus.   
“He’s not just a creepy old English man, he’s the embodiment of the dark side of human nature. He represents the darkness we wish we could cut-“   
“You lost me at human,” Remus interrupted.   
“I’m not surprised in the slightest.” They watched as a few kids from their bus walked past them. Janus glanced behind him to see that he and Remus were alone.   
“Shit!” Remus suddenly shouted.  
“What?” Janus asked, confused.   
“Roman is coming over today!”   
“Oh? Why?”   
Remus turned to him frowning, his hands up.   
“Because ‘family bonding time’” Remus said, making quotation marks.   
Janus scrunched his nose.   
“Disgusting.”  
“Exactlyyyyyy,”   
“Do- can we still do movie night?”   
“Yeahhh! After dinner.”  
“Good luck mate.”  
They finally made it to their houses where they had to part ways. Janus tipped his hat to Remus as he walked across the street to his house.   
“Goodday,”  
“Good day!” Remus shouted back, waving from his driveway. Janus waited till Remus was inside his own house until turning to his front door and unlocking it.   
“Oi is anyone home?” Janus called into the house. There was no answer. The teenaged boy shrugged and took off his shoes and threw his backpack on a chair. He was home alone, which meant it was self care time. He walked into the living room and flung himself onto the couch, and grabbed for the remote.   
“I am alone, and no one can bother me,” he said, switching on the TV. He drifted off into his own thoughts as he waited for Netflix to load. Next week was Halloween and his family had yet to buy pumpkins. Something about that felt wrong. How could you have Halloween with pumpkins. Surely an episode of American Horror Story would distract him for long enough. He repositioned himself so that his legs stuck up from the couch, and his head hung towards the ground. He hummed along to the intro song, always liking the eeriness of it. Halloween felt...different this year, and he wasn’t quite sure he liked it. Logan, Virgil's older brother had told the group that he could not come trick or treating this year, due to some academic thing. Janus had begged him to change his mind and all that, but Logan’s mind was made up. And Remus and Virgil assures him it would still be the same. But you couldn’t take someone away from the group and call it the same. You couldn’t change something so sacred. Halloween was that time of year Janus wanted to soak up and never let go. He wanted to be smothered in the foggy, eeriness of October nights. He loved it more than anything. The smell of pumpkins and the chill of the air intoxicated him. He did not look forward to the end of it at all. The winter meant nothing to him besides more fighting between his parents and not being able to run off with Remus, far away where no one could find them. Janus looked up at the screen to see a woman getting burned at the stake. Well damn, okay. He pulled himself out of the odd position and just laid on the couch watching. How long he had been sitting here he wasn’t sure, and really didn’t care. Not like he had much to do before Remus came over. He pulled out his phone from his pocket and turned it on. No texts or missed calls. He turned it off and stuffed it back in the pocket of his flowing black coat. He heard the front door being unlocked and hit pause on his show. He quickly got up, grabbed his school bag and started heading up the stairs as his mother entered.   
“Janus, I’m home!” She called, even though she could clearly see him racing up the stairs.   
“Ok!” He called back, slamming his bedroom door. He did not want to deal with her today. Or At all. He set his bag on the ground neatly by his bed so his father wouldn’t lose it, then threw himself in his bed. Clicking on his phone he saw it was only 4:30. He really hoped Remus would text him soon. He tried to watch his show on his phone, but soon became bored and restless. At 5:30 he crawled out of his bed and towards the window. He sat down on the floor staring out across the street at Remus’s house. He frowned when he noticed Roman leaving. Roman was only a few months younger than Janus, and yet had gotten a car before. Janus grinned to himself already thinking of how to torment the upperclassmen. He crawled away from the window and grabbed his fake trick knife from his desk and put it in his pocket. Tipping his hat lower over his face, and buttoning up his coat, he made his way out of the room.   
“I’m going outside!” He called upstairs to his mother, even though she could care less.   
“Be safe!” She called back. He then stepped out the front door. He quickly got behind his parents' cars, still trying to keep an eye on Roman. He quickly darted across the street and ran up the driveway, grabbing Roman around the neck. The senior let out a scream and tried to pull away. Janus put the trick knife to his throat.  
“Don’t move,”  
“You’re terrible at sneaking up on people, you snake,” Roman muttered.   
“I don’t like you either, thank you so much.”   
“I can and will beat you to a pulp,” Roman warned. Janus chuckled.   
“Me? You’d beat a scrawny boy like me up?”   
“Your sarcasm doesn’t fool me, ret*rd.” Janus growled and kicked romans leg.   
Roman lashed out, and pulled away.   
“What the hell is wrong with you?!” He shouted, glaring at Janus. Janus held his ground, with nothing but a fake knife to defend himself. God why did he have to be so impulsive.  
“I would prefer you not to be so insensitive-“  
“You just pretended to stab me!”   
“And you just insulted me.”   
“You deserve it, you freak. You hang out with that thing inside-“ Roman pointed towards the house behind him. Janus rolled his eyes.   
“Yes, insult your brother even more. It’s not like he’s already insecure enough as it is-“   
“Go to hell, you-“   
“Petty insults can't hurt me, Roman. Now leave.”   
Janus studied Roman, who was taller than him. Roman seemed to be analyzing him, a calculating look in his eyes. He chuckled.   
“Let’s start Over, I am so sorry Janus.”   
Janus frowned, gripping his knife harder. This was- this was not what he expected.   
“W-what?”   
Roman took a step forward.   
“I mean it, this is silly, Janus. Let’s start over, we don’t have to be enemies.”   
“What are you talking about? How could we not be enemies? You hurt Remus!”   
“And I’m so sorry for that, really Jan.” Janus felt like he wanted to get out of there. The tables had turned and he had no clue what to do.   
“You’re lying,” he said accusingly.   
“How rude of you to assume that, you of all people should know how painful it is to be called a liar.”   
“What are you talking about?” Janus hissed.   
You know exactly what I’m talking about. Remus sucks at keeping secrets. I heard seventh grade was a ride.”   
Nope. Time to run.   
“I don’t...know what you’re talking about,” Janus said quickly, turning to leave. Roman moved quickly and grabbed at his coat. Janus froze for a second then tried to jerk away. He spun around to face Roman. Roman was grinning like a mad man.   
“Tell me, Jan, what happened to that little friend of yours?”   
“I-I’m not-“   
“It was quite odd to stop hearing about him, considering he was all you used to talk about.”  
“I-“  
“You say I’m hurting Remus, but how much have you hurt him? He’s just a placeholder for your dear-“   
“Don’t you fucking use his name.” Janus growled and pulled away from Roman, fleeing to his house. 

“Heyyyyyy, JanJan!” Remus said when Janus opened the front door that night.   
“Heyyyyyy” Janus replied, a smile placed on his face. The two headed to the basement and shut off the lights to watch a movie.   
“You ready to watch Screammmmmm?”   
“You bet!” Remus threw himself into the couch. Janus joined him, settling down in the corner of the couch. Remus soon sidled up nearby and leaned against Janus. It was just them, In the dark, watching a slasher film. The world as it should be.   
“Roman was a b*tch tonight,” Remus said, suddenly sitting up and grabbing the box of Oreos on the table behind them.   
“What did he do this time?” Janus asked, still shook up from earlier.   
“He said that I’ll never amount to anything, and that I need to grow up already.” Janus had to keep himself from lunging off the couch and flying out the door to best Roman up.   
“He’s an idiot who knows nothing, Ree.”  
“He also called you a bunch of names I shouldn’t repeat,” Remus pouted.   
“Screw him. Screw him and everyone else.”   
Remus looked a little surprised at his best friend. Janus usually didn’t get this fired up, considering this being a normal conversation.   
“You ok Jan Jan?”  
“What?”  
“You seem a little tense tongiht?”  
“You’re changing the topic-“ Janus Said, trying time sway it back to Roman.   
“But-“   
“I’m fine- let’s just enjoy the movie, okay?”   
Remus nodded, and they sunk back into place. Both making commentary on the movie, and having side conversations. The problems of the day soon forgotten. And yet Janus couldn’t help but think about Roman said. He didn’t sleep much that night. 

“


End file.
